Vol.1 Brooklyn’s May 2019 Book Preview

What does the month of May have to offer, in terms of books? Plenty. From moving works of nonfiction to eagerly awaited novels to new editions of cult classics, there’s plenty to captivate readers seeking out a variety of literary experiences. What follows is a look at several of the books that have our attention for the month to come, spanning a wide range of styles and tones.

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The Tactile Anxieties of Medical Fiction

In an era of increasing medical costs, heated political debates over the nature of healthcare, and financial instability, reading about all things medical can be as unsettling as the most unpredictable of horror stories. There have been a host of acclaimed works of nonfiction dealing with their authors’ experiences with illnesses and the medical system in recent years, including Paul Kalanithi’s When Breath Becomes Air, Joshua Mohr’s Sirens, and Porochista Khakpour’s forthcoming Sick. But numerous recent works of fiction have […]

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Malaise, Betrayal, and Looming Mortality: A Review of Masande Ntshanga’s “The Reactive”

The act of doing nothing is a difficult thing to write about, especially over the length of a novel, but Masande Ntshanga manages to do so brilliantly in his debut novel The Reactive. Three friends spend their days huffing glue, chewing khat, getting drunk, and otherwise nullifying their days. They have day-jobs but make most of their money re-selling anti-retroviral drugs to HIV patients. It’s a stultifying existence, but these are not your garden variety junkies and their fate is […]

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